I'd like to consider having Fanfare threads for major sporting events like the World Cup, Olympics, Super Bowl, NBA Finals, etc.

I'm not sure if there's a widespread interest in this, and maybe it's not what Fanfare is for, since it would end up being largely a live-blog type thing mostly, as has happened with a few Super Bowl threads (which I have enjoyed). But I'd like to consider it, if it hasn't already been discussed.

Thanks for the suggestion. You're not alone, we've heard this quite a bit and I think it something we'd like to do someday. We're currently having a discussion about adding books in MetaTalk. A few people have asked for us to add Sports events there too.

My guess is that books will be the next media type we tackle, along with any overall changes to make the site better. Right now I think Sports could be something off in the future, but probably not in the short term.posted by pb at 2:02 PM on June 11, 2015

It only took me three times to get wrestling added to the list of shows.posted by Etrigan at 5:31 PM on June 12, 2015

It's not like sports would require any additional code would it? The only difference is that peoe would probably rather live blog it than discuss it after, which is discouraged.posted by bleep at 10:09 PM on June 14, 2015

It's not like sports would require any additional code would it?

The hurdle to adding any new media, including sports, is almost entirely social rather than technological. We're trying to help FanFare grow in a way that produces good discussions about media. The most common complaint we hear about FanFare is that there are too many posts with not enough discussion. Everyone has media they want to discuss with MeFites, but that critical mass of others consuming the same media doesn't necessarily exist. We're trying to be very careful about adding new media and we're also thinking carefully about changes we can make to improve the existing media types we have. We don't want to add every media type possible and end up with dozens of posts and no conversation.

The live blogging vs. after-the-fact blogging is another big hurdle with sports. One option that might work is trying to get together a group of people to watch a particular event together in MeFi Chat. That's a space we already have dedicated to helping members chat in real time. We've had a few live events happen there (MST3K marathon on Thanksgiving) and those went well. Having regular sports events in chat would be a good way to build some energy around them.posted by pb at 8:14 AM on June 15, 2015

Having regular sports events in chat would be a good way to build some energy around them.

All four of you reading this thread, do you think it would be worth trying to set up a mefi chat discussion for tonight's hockey game?posted by everybody had matching towels at 8:59 AM on June 15, 2015

I think the problem with sports is finding the right frequency without swamping FanFare.

A weekly NFL thread wouldn't be much of a problem: games run Thursday, Sunday and Monday. Wouldn't be any different from any regular 21 episode weekly show, same for European Football leagues or a Champions League/Europa League post. Finals are one game every two or three days, at a time a lot of TV Shows are in vacation.
But the World Cups, Olympics etc run daily, not to mention, some people can't watch it live, and would rather stay away from spoilers (aka, the final score/times), particularly when something happens on another time zone. Hard to manage on a post alone, and could swamp the rest of FanFare with "Day 10 of the Rio 2016 Olympics - Athletics begin, Archery Men's finals (...)" or "2014 World Cup - day 5: Uruguay-Senegal, Iceland - New Zealand and Germany - Chile"style threads.posted by lmfsilva at 8:44 AM on June 16, 2015

So, just to talk about why I would love this is that talking sports is great, but only in a community that isn't toxic.

I think one thread a week for the NFL would be great, I would definitely drop in to talk about upcoming matchups and maybe comment live for big games that I'm watching by myself.

NCAA tournament, maybe one thread per round.

For the NBA and NHL, maybe a monthly thread for the regular season (if that), but a thread for each round of the playoffs would be great.

I think the World Cup, Olympics would be easiy, just do a new thread for each day of the event, stay out of the thread for the latest day if you want to watch the events live. It would maybe overwhelm Fanfare, but they're such big events I have to imagine that the thread for any particular day of the World Cup or Olympics would be bigger than 90% of Fanfare threads.posted by skewed at 11:23 PM on June 16, 2015

Yes, this would be quite fun,

This thread on the Women's World Cup is an example of what sports-related FanFare would be like.posted by cacofonie at 6:05 PM on June 24, 2015

Well, it's late August, NFL squads are slimming down, UEFA group draws were made, MLB is about the enter the pennant race and both the NBA and NHL now have a ticking clock. Any consensus to give this a shot?posted by lmfsilva at 6:52 AM on August 29, 2015

No new plans here to start sports conversations at FanFare. You might take a look at SportsFilter—a site that spun off of MetaFilter years ago to have sports conversations. I don't think live sports discussions ever took off in MetaFilter Chat but that's another avenue that might work.posted by pb at 2:23 PM on August 29, 2015

Could we do a weekly Fanfare thread for the Thursday night football pre-game show on CBS or NFL Network?posted by skewed at 9:37 AM on September 16, 2015

Sure, if there's a pre-game show that people watch and want to have discussions around that seems fine. I think the one on CBS is called The NFL Today and it's probably available to more people than something on the NFL network.posted by pb at 10:14 AM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

well, I doubt anyone really wants to discuss the pre-game show itself, since they're all pretty terrible. But perhaps it would be a place where people could talk about that weekend's games? (which is why I suggested the Thursday night game, which is always the first game of the week). I don't want to do something the mods aren't okay with, but if this is a way to do NFL discussion without having to make a new category for Fanfare, I'd like to try it.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a show to base an NFL discussion on?posted by skewed at 8:03 PM on September 16, 2015

But perhaps it would be a place where people could talk about that weekend's games?

This is how we do wrestling discussions here on the Purple -- someone posts a monthly-or-so thread about a go-home* episode of Raw, and then we wend our way through the pay-per-view, the next three or four Raws (and other associated shows), and other wrestling news. No one has ever complained about it, and the bigger wrestling stories will bleed over to the Blue if someone finds them compelling enough to post there.

* -- A "go-home show" is the last weekly Raw before the monthly pay-per-view event.posted by Etrigan at 5:44 AM on September 17, 2015